COHASSET – The planning board tonight will continue its public hearing on a mixed-use townhouse development on James Lane proposed under the town’s village district zoning.

The Homes at Cohasset Village, proposed by James Lane Partners LLC of Quincy, would include four two-unit townhouses and one commercial unit at 8 James Lane. The project needs a special permit from the planning board.

In 2012, the board approved permitting for four two-unit townhouses at 8 James Lane and one three-unit townhouse at 2 Pleasant St., collectively called the Cohasset Village Town Homes. The project never went forward, and James Lane Partners has since purchased the half-acre James Lane site from the original developer, South Coastal Development Group. The proposed units would be approximately 1,500 square feet and would have garages. The plans call for a total of 14 parking spaces – six more than required.

James Lane Partners is proposing the Homes at Cohasset Village separate from 2 Pleasant St., which the group does not own.

The village business district bylaw generally does not allow first-floor apartments in order to keep the village a business area, but the planning board can grant an exception if the applicant shows that the continuity of any businesses would not be adversely affected.

Because the railroad tracks separate the lot from the rest of the business district, Michael Roberts of James Lane Partners said residences make sense.

“Empty-nesters and millennials prefer being walking distance from everything they need,” he said of such mixed-use developments. “They bring people back to the villages.”